Kukla's Korner Hockey

There is a point in every career where the arrow begins to point down. Could this be that time for Jarome Iginla?

“There isn’t a great blueprint on what the aging body of a power forward does, because most guys don’t have the luxury of aging,” said Brendan Shanahan, a fine power forward himself who played 21 seasons and gathered 2,489 PIMs between 656 goals.

“Most are done after 14, 15 years. The (John) LeClairs, Cam Neely, Tim Kerr, Kevin Stevens… Their bodies broke down because of the way they played. Wendel Clark broke down even sooner because he played so much bigger than his body.”

So what of Iginla, who has somehow misplaced that ability to find the time and space he used to have?

He has plenty of years left, figures another prominent power winger of the day, Bill Guerin. But perhaps the time has come for Iginla to think his way around the rink, rather than instinctively run over opponents on his way to another 50-goal season.